Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for Sept. 9-13 in case they were missed.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control issued a blocking memorandum and formally updated 33 entries on its Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List. The agency published “identifying information” on the entries as a result of President Donald Trump’s Sept. 10 executive order that expanded Treasury’s terrorism-related sanctions authorities (see 1909100048). Most names are for persons or entities in the Middle East, specifically Palestine.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Kale Kayihura, the former inspector general of police of the Ugandan Police Force, for leading an entity involved in human rights abuses and corruption, Treasury said in a Sept. 13 press release. Kayihura and members of Uganda’s Flying Squad Unit abused detainees at the Nalufenya Special Investigations Center and after they'd been subjected to the abuse, offered them money if they confessed to crimes, Treasury said. Kayihura also used bribery to improve his political position within the Ugandan government and stole funds intended for government use, the press release said. Kayihura was sanctioned under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned three North Korean state-run hacking groups responsible for supporting the country’s illegal weapons and missile programs, Treasury said in a Sept. 13 press release. The cyber groups -- Lazarus Group, Bluenoroff and Andariel -- work on behalf of North Korea to conduct “cyber espionage, data theft, monetary heists and destructive malware operations,” Treasury said.
A U.S. website infrastructure company said it may have violated U.S. sanctions and export reporting requirements, according to its regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Cloudflare, based in California, told the SEC it voluntarily disclosed possible export and sanctions violations to the Bureau of Industry and Security and the Office of Foreign Assets Control this year. The violations included submitting “incorrect information” about hardware exports to Commerce and receiving payments from people and entities on OFAC’s Specially Designated Nationals List.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for Sept. 3-6 in case they were missed.
President Donald Trump issued an executive order Sept. 10 that “strengthens and expands” the State and Treasury departments' sanctions authorities against terrorists, the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control said in a notice. Among several changes, the order allows the U.S. to impose “correspondent account or payable-through account sanctions” on foreign banks that “knowingly conducted or facilitated any significant transaction” for a U.S. sanctioned global terrorist, OFAC said.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control issued a general license authorizing certain transactions with Venezuela and amended a Venezuela-related Frequently Asked Question, OFAC said in a Sept. 9 notice. General License No. 34 allows certain transactions with Venezuelan government officials if they are U.S. citizens, residents, have U.S. visas or are former Venezuelan government employees. The FAQ, number 680, is amended to address GL 34 implications and deals with which transactions with Venezuelan government employees are blocked.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control updated the Cuban Assets Control Regulations to eliminate certain transactions that were previously authorized by a general license, OFAC said in a notice. The update also revises and removes certain authorizations for remittances to Cuba. The changes take effect Oct. 9.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control is seeking comments on its continuing information collection for its Hizballah Financial Sanctions Regulations Report on Closure by U.S. Financial Institutions of Correspondent Accounts and Payable-Through Accounts, OFAC said in a notice. OFAC is seeking comments about whether the report is “necessary for the proper performance of the functions” of OFAC, the “accuracy of the agency’s estimate of the burden of the collection of information,” ways to “enhance the quality” of the information collection, ways to “minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents and estimated costs “of services to provide information.” Comments are due Nov. 5.